Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Trying to convert a fried recipe into a baked one is usually
a disappointing exercise in futility, but this crispy garlic breadcrumb chicken
turned out to be a very enjoyable exception.

While not exactly the same as a pan-fried,
breaded cutlet, if you want to eat tender, flavorful chicken with lots of
crispy, crunchy bits, then this significantly less-messy method is for you.

One of the keys to this technique is to use panko
breadcrumbs, which are much larger, and more jagged than regular, fine
breadcrumbs. If you can’t find them, you can easily make you own. Just pulse
chunks of stale white bread in a food processor until coarsely ground, and then
spread out on a baking sheet, and place in a 275 F. oven until they are dried
and crispy.

Above and beyond being easier, this method also allows us to introduce some additional flavor, and moisture, thanks to the “glue” we use to
attach the crumbs. I went very simple with my formula, but as I mention in
the video, you can add all sorts of herbs and spices to yours. Either way,
the next time you want crispy, breaded chicken with less mess, and more flavor,
I really do hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Friday, October 26, 2018

Okay, so we’re not using a whole pig, but we are using a
whole pumpkin, which not only produced some very succulent, flavorful pork, but
also made for an absolutely stunning presentation. This looked so good, that
many people might think it was faked, which really is the ultimate compliment.

While this would work in any pumpkin, try to find ones sold
as “sugar,” or “pie” pumpkins,” since they have a thicker, sweeter flesh,
compared to the ornamental ones sold for jack-o'-lantering. I believe the variety
I used was called “cannonball,” but simply look for round, heavy-feeling
varieties about the size of a volleyball, displayed in the produce department,
and not outside, or in front of the store.

As I said in the video, you can season this anyway you want,
but regardless of what exactly goes in your gourd, make sure you roast it until
the meat is tender. How long will depend on the size of course, so be sure to
test the meat as it cooks. The only thing I’d do differently next time, would
be to pour in a little more cider after a few hours in the oven, since a lot of
it evaporated as it roasted, and I wanted more “sauce” when I was done.

After you remove the meat for service, ladle out all the
braising liquid, and let it sit for a few minutes, so you can skim off most of
the fat. Thanks to the little bit of flour on the pork, it should have a nice
thickness, but you can always adjust that with some more roux. Or, simply make
a sauce separately, and then just spike it with your drippings.

Also, if you wanted to add another step, you could use a
blender to make a smoother sauce, but I’ll leave that up to you. Either way, if
you’re looking for a fun, and very seasonably appropriate way to cook some pork
shoulder, I couldn’t think of a better, or more beautiful way, which is why I
really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Pig in a Pumpkin:

1 volleyball-sized cooking pumpkin

3 1/2 to 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder

1 rounded tablespoon kosher salt (the pumpkin will absorb
some of this)

2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary

1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots

- garlic and sage would have also been great here

2 tablespoons flour to coat pork

1 tablespoon olive oil for browning meat

at least 2 cups hard cider, or more if you can fit it in
before or during cooking

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Soufflés have always had the reputation for being a
difficult, and temperamental thing to make, which I’ve never really understood.
As long as you can manage to whip some egg whites, and fold them into your batter
without knocking all the air out, there’s really not much that can go wrong.

And that’s with the traditional method, which requires making a saucy base
first. These soufflés are even easier than that, since mashed sweet potato is
the base. I like to microwave my sweet potatoes, mostly because it’s
faster, but you can certainly roast them in a 375 F. oven instead. Just prick
them as shown, and bake for as long as it takes to get them very soft. I’d love
to give you a time, but that depends on the size.

I kept these very plain, so as not to distract you, but you
can add all sorts of things. Cheese, bacon, and herbs, just to name a
few. And that’s for savory applications, since these will also shine as a dessert.
Just add some maple syrup or brown sugar to the mashed potatoes, to taste,
along with appropriate spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, and you'll be in for quite the seasonal treat. But, no
matter how you flavor these, or which course you serve them, I really do
hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Saturday, October 20, 2018

If you’re going to steal one Rick Bayless recipe, you might
as well steal two, which is exactly what I did here with this green chile
pesto, and roasted chayote squash side dish. Like I said in the video, most
great chefs encourage this type of thievery, as long as you give them credit,
which I’m happy to do.

What I’m calling “Green Chile Pesto,” is really his Green
Chile Adobo, but I thought my audience would better relate to a “pesto,” since
that’s what this reminds me of the most. Although, I’m not sure how it would be
in a pasta, and don’t have any immediate plans to find out.

What it was great in, was this very simple chayote squash
dish, which is really more of a warm salad. If you can find chayote near you, I
recommend you give it a try, but if not, grilled zucchini or other summer
squash would also work, as would something like roasted acorn or delicata
squash.

I’d try to choose a fairly mild olive oil for this, since we
have enough heat and bitterness from the peppers. Which reminds me, don’t over
blend this. While some chefs claim it’s just a wives tale, I’ve found that if
you over-process an olive oil-based sauce, especially ones with garlic in them,
it can get very bitter. Other than that, not much can go wrong, and so on
behalf of Chef Bayless and myself, I’d like to say, we really do hope you give
it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the Green Chile Pesto:

6 Serrano peppers

1 Poblano pepper

6 cloves garlic, still in the paper

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 bunch Italian parsley

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or about 3/4 teaspoon fine salt)

3/4 cup mild tasting olive oil, or vegetable oil

juice from 2 fresh limes*

* You can add the lime right to the pesto if you’re going to
use it all at once as a sauce for something, but this seems to keep longer in
the fridge without it added in, and so I prefer to add it to whatever I’m using
it with instead.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

The hardest line cook job I ever had was working the broiler
station at the Carnelian Room, where on a busy night I’d prepare over 250
steaks and chops, which wasn’t even the most difficult part. No, the biggest
challenge was actually frying these potato puffs to order, to go on all those
plates.

It was a lot of work, but a labor of love, since pomme
dauphine, as my French friends would call this, is one of the greatest foods
ever invented, especially for potato fanatics like me. However, as with most
fried foods, they can be messy to make, and unless you have an
industrial-strength hood fan, your kitchen will smell like a deep fryer for
days, which is why I wanted to try and do a baked version.

I was very happy with the results, and while the outside
wasn’t dark and crispy like the fried version, the inside was virtually
identical, and thoroughly enjoyable in their own right. Whether you’re making
them as a warm snack with a dip, or to go alongside some eggs, or a grilled
steak, the baked version should work out just fine.

Of course, since we’re getting close to Thanksgiving, if you
are one of these people who deep-fries the turkey, I would probably go with the
traditional method. Especially since you’ll be cooking outside where sneaking a
few of these while you’re working will be pretty easy to get away with. Either
way, I really do hope you give these potato puffs a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 Small Baked Potato Puffs:

(I did a tiny test batch, so I highly recommend doubling or
tripling the recipe)

1 cup cooked, plain mashed potatoes (Yukon or Russet)

salt and cayenne to taste

small pinch of freshly grated nutmegbutter for the muffin tin

For the pastry dough:

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 large egg

- For a mini muffin tin*, butter well, and bake at 450 F for
about 20 minutes, or until browned and puffed.

- Or, deep-fry at 375 F for a few minutes until browned and
puffed.

* These might work in a regular muffin tin, but you’ll need
to bake longer.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Imagine a sausage patty made from chicken that’s just as
tender, juicy, and flavorful as one made from pork. What? A not-dry, not-rubbery feeling chicken-based sausage? Sounds impossible, and
it is, unless you sneak in a little bit of pancetta, and follow a few simple
techniques.

Instead of buying ground chicken at the market, which is
always too finely ground, we’re going to use thighs, and grind our own. This
makes for a significantly more succulent and tender patty, as long as you keep
the meat very cold while working with it. I like to pulse it on and off in the
food processer, but your can also use your grinder attachment, or go low-tech,
and just chop it finely with a big knife or cleaver.

As I mentioned in the video, if you’re not into patties, you
can make links, or simply crumble the raw mixture into a hot pan, and break it
up as it cooks. Once browned, you can add your butter and flour, and continue
with the pan sauce. Besides saving you a little time, this method probably
makes for the most flavorful gravy.

By the way, most chicken apple sausage recipes call for some
kind of sugar to be added, but I really don’t think it’s necessary, thanks to
the natural sugar in the apples. As with all ground meat recipes, you can
always fry up a small piece of your mixture, and test for yourself, but for me,
the little touch of maple syrup in the sauce is all the extra sweetness this
needs. Either way, I really do hope you give these chicken apple sausage
patties a try soon. Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

A few months ago I saw a pie image on Twitter so creepy, and
disturbing, that I actually questioned whether it was too terrifying to post as
a video. Usually, Halloween-themed recipes have the opposite problem, as they
are almost never actually scary, but that’s not an issue here. By the way, can
someone get sued for giving people nightmares?

Anyway, I eventually traced the image back to what I assumed
would be some sort of food blog, but it was actually someone’s Etsy shop, where
they were selling inedible versions of this basic design. So, I wasn’t able to
see how it was made, but did use their “face” as a rough guide, and despite being somewhat anatomically challenged, I thought this came out looking great.
And by great, I mean terrible.

If you’re disturbed enough to make this, you can use our tourtière recipe for the crust and filling, which is exactly what I did here, except for
whatever reason I added a touch of ketchup to the meat. Of course, this
technique would work for topping any pie, including all your favorite fruit
versions, and the next time cherries are in season, I may just have to give
this one more try. Or not. We’ll see. In the meantime, if at all possible, please
enjoy!

Friday, October 5, 2018

There’s nothing like a big, steaming bowl of comfort food to
make everything seem all right, and this dark, but delightful black lentil stew
with sausage and kale is no exception. Whether you’re battling a lack of
sunlight, or troubles at work, or you’re a NY Giants fan, a dish like this can
do wonders to brighten your mood.

Sausage and lentils is a marriage made in heaven, and so
good together, that not even kale can ruin it. I’m kidding, and actually love
kale, but if you’re not the biggest fan in the world, maybe try it one more
time in this. As long as you cook the greens until they get nice and tender,
you’ll be surprised how sweet, and mild they become.

In case that’s asking too much, spinach, and/or other
vegetables will also work here, as these types of recipes are a perfect
catch-all for seasonal produce. You people with neighbors who grow zucchini
should pay especially close attention to that last part. Regardless of what you
add, or don’t, I really do hope you give this black lentil stew a try soon.
Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

This very easy to make candy goes by many names; cinder
toffee, sponge candy, and my personal favorite, “hokey pokey,” but no matter
what you call it, this eye-catching confection is a proven crowd-pleaser. And,
that’s before you dip in in chocolate, as my British friends highly recommend.

It’s no big secret that people love sweet, crispy things,
but this also features the most interesting melt-in-your-mouth texture, which
is created by thousands of bubbles, trapped in the cooling sugar syrup. As you
can see in the video, I did two batches with different amounts of baking soda,
and while the second batch did look better, the first batch was crunchier, and
didn’t have any kind of aftertaste.

Other than suffering a horrible burn, there’s not a lot that
can go wrong with this recipe, as long as you heat the syrup to 300 F. I
checked mine with a probe thermometer, although a candy thermometer that
attaches to the side of the pan would be a lot easier. Some folks say you can
simply go by appearance, and when the syrup goes from clear to slightly golden,
it’s done, but that requires a certain amount of experience.

Another method to gauge the temperature is by dropping a
little bit of the molten syrup in water to see if it instantly turns into rock
candy. That will work, but since thermometers aren’t expensive, and every
kitchen should have one, that really is the way to go. Regardless, as long as
you promise to be careful, I really do hope you give this gorgeous, homemade
honeycomb toffee a try soon. Enjoy!